Harissa

Hi,
today's' topic is hot sauce. You either love it or hate it. No one is ambivalent about hot sauces. I personally love real heat in a sauce. The hotter the better. Marshall thinks I could probably strip paint with some of the sauces I will eat. He might be right.

We have a membership to the local co-op farm. Every Thursday I get to go and pick fruit & vegetables. There is nothing better than fresh food. This year has been a bumper crop of hot peppers. Heaven! I pick two or three pounds every week and make fresh harissa.  Harissa is a Mediterranean pepper sauce/condiment that is used on everything in the Middle East. You take hot peppers,  jalapenos, poblano, habanero , red, green, purple... I don't care what as long as it's got the heat. Then I roast the peppers and some garlic. Throw it all in the food processor with some olive oil, ground cumin and caraway seeds, and voila! Fabulous hot sauce.

Not everyone is a fan. My husband can take 'some spicing' but for the most part he's not excited about setting his taste buds on fire or turning purple from the blast in his mouth. I am very appreciative of his sensitivity. When I cook I add my heat post-plating. He rolls his eyes at the mound of harissa I throw on my food. I dig in with joy and abandonment. I don't feel the burn, only pure pleasure of exciting taste on my tongue. Hot sauce is what I crave. The rest is just a carrier for the heat I like to eat. I know that the fire breathers in the circus don't get burned and neither do I.

Where did this taste develop from? Jewish cooking is usually 'flavorful' but never on the spicy side other than peppery, so I didn't grow up with hot spices in our house. We did have the standard bottle of Tabasco sauce but that was strictly for Bloody Marys before dinner or a drop on a fried egg Saturday morning for breakfast. I didn't discover real heat until I found Indian food in my late teens. My Uncle Bob & Aunt Judy introduced me to Indian cuisine in Toronto and I've never looked back. Bring on the vindaloos sauce. Yum. Since then I have had my spice cupboard stocked with the makings of masalah and most Indian dishes assorted flavors. Maybe I was born on the wrong continent. Dull North American food doesn't get my attention. I want serious ignition of flavor in my beans.

Making my own hot sauce is a pleasure. Sharing it with others who have the same affection is a joy. I was able to serve it the other night to Marshalls' boss & his wife who came for dinner. They had brought me a bottle of olive oil from their olive orchard in France. I was thrilled with it. Fresh olive oil is so special. I, in turn, gifted them with a jar of my freshly made harissa from peppers I had harvested last week. It makes for an important friendship when you can exchange and share cuisine. There is a bonding in love of food. Hot sauces make a great welding.

xox
m